1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forecasting tire wear.
2. Background Art
In order to investigate the relationship between tire travel distance and tire wear, conventionally, tire wear has been caused by attaching the tires to, and running the tires on, drum test equipment, or installing the tires on actual vehicles and running the tires thereon.
However, causing wear on the tires requires the travel distance to be extremely long, so there is a problem in that the testing period before test results are obtained is long. More rapid methods for forecasting tire wear have therefore been proposed.
In the past, when forecasting tire wear, a method has been used in which the shearing force operating on the tire tread and the movement (from the deformation) is measured.
However, an excessive amount of time must be spent in order to make the tread pattern wear image visible when measuring only a single point on the tread, so it is not possible, in practice, to estimate the wear on the tread of the tire as a whole.
This invention takes the above situation into account and has a purpose of providing a tire wear forecasting method and apparatus for easily forecasting tire wear.